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(1844-1900). He was a man of the 19th century whose influence on 20th-century thought was enormous. It was not so much what Friedrich Nietzsche believed as what he saw happening in European civilization that was so meaningful in later decades. He saw a civilization so self-confident over its mastery of science, technology, politics, and economics that for it "God is dead," and that "belief in the Christian God has become unworthy of belief." Nietzsche saw emerging tensions arising from those who embraced the ideologies of democracy, socialism, or Communism. He predicted: "There will be wars such as there have never been on Earth before." His death in Weimar, Germany, on Aug. 25, 1900, prevented him from witnessing the accuracy of his predictions.